Memorygirls - Make Do and Mend

Ellidee

Slightly off topic but wanted to share this - ugly people earn less, lesbians and left handers earn more http://sheconomics.blogspot.com/2010/09/tall-attractive-left-handed-man-with.html

Mags30

Can I ask who are Mike and Mike's mob? They sound like an interesting bunch.

Mr Big's coming to visit:jThat's so exciting.

clairewop

se999 wrote: »

How old are your DS's? Are they old enough to make their own sandwiches for school each evening. You can do the 'carrot' approach where there's a range of toppings and can pick their own. I had a sandwich making routine, and also had people clear the decks in the evening ready for breakfast in the morning.

I used to have the dishes everywhere problem, but it is possible to get them to clear up as they go. If you've got a dishwasher the rule was they went straight in there.

Otherwise what worked for me was the family blitz approach. i.e. If everywhere's a mess at night or in the morning, everyone mucks in to help clear it. 5 mins of quick blitz by 4 people does clear the inital debris, and normally there should be 5 mins in the morning if it gets missed the night before, if not set the alarm 5 minutes earlier

My children are 16 and 13

I have a dishwasher, but if I don't empty it, dishes just get left on the top.

Mornings are so chaotic here I wouldn't get any help, I know in future before I sit down to do things for me, to clean first.

all done now anyway, just gonna put washing on the line then meet mum for her appointment. (am hoping she will come back here and help me sort through more boxes, as she said yesterday she enjoyed her self on monday rummaging through all the beads )

se999

clairewop wrote: »

My children are 16 and 13

I have a dishwasher, but if I don't empty it, dishes just get left on the top.

Mornings are so chaotic here I wouldn't get any help, I know in future before I sit down to do things for me, to clean first.

all done now anyway, just gonna put washing on the line then meet mum for her appointment. (am hoping she will come back here and help me sort through more boxes, as she said yesterday she enjoyed her self on monday rummaging through all the beads )[/QUOTE

It's a bit harder, but at 13 & 16 it is possible to 'retrain' to some extent, normally via small steps. They would understand the logic of if they don't make their own sandwiches they spend their pocket money/allowance to buy some instead

Also if the dishwasher isn't emptied before dinner, dinner has to wait until someone empties it so there are clean pots to eat off

We did find with chaotic mornings it worked better to allow an extra 10 to 15 minutes, so we had a calm relaxed start to the day instead of the chaos, prep the night before helps too.

Hope I don't sound like a cruel mother with the tough love approach, but it's also teaching them basic life skills for when they're independent.

rainbow81

Hi MG!

Thank you so much for the book, I got it this morning! Looks lovely and visual so I can't wait to get stuck in!

I have seen Mr Big's latest challenge and I have to say that more than anything, and before these challenges, you have actually inspired me to be a better mother and just enjoy my little one.

Speaking of whom, he is 7 and is in mainstream school and has Autistic Spectrum Disorder. I will be seeing what bits of your book I can adapt and help him with his learning as (you probably know) that people with ASD are usually very visual learners. I swear he could spell better before he started school because their teaching methods just don't suit him.

Enough rambling from me, I just meant to pop my head in and thank you.

R xx

Memory_Girl

:eek::eek::eek: and breathe memorygirl:eek::eek::eek:

so the car is dropped off at the garage to get the brakes fixed.

ds1 is off to school with our student teacher - don't know how i'm collecting him but will worry about that later. They are supposed to be going to the west sands to experience training on the beach - but it is tipping it down so they might not make it out of school in which case the usual bus can collect him.

Walked the baby back from the garage in his buggy and got rained on - at like 300 miles an hour cos i was soo:eek::eek:

My head was reeling with " i gottas, i shouldas i wannas" - which face it is not going to get me anywhere.

so went to lidl and stocked up on £10 of fruit and veg:j treats like pineapple and oranges and limes - all in the same week, how very decandent.

Came home, did a 15 minute blitz of downstairs (only 15 minutes though, cos i realise that my cleaning is just a displacement activity) - and made a decision.

i have spring cleaned my life - but my weight loss is going no-where. so i pulled out a jason vale book and had a look at some of his juice plans - yummmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

i figure a few days away from the filling up on bread and stuff is what i need to ge me some mental clarity too.

so for breakfast i had his "Dreamy Detox" juice - a mix of apple, lime, cucumber and celery with fersh ginger. a beautiful pale green colour and so zingy it has lifted my spirits no end.

i have a jar of green chinese tea to drink plenty of (to try and calm down my mainlining coffee habit i have developed) and the water in the tap here is soft and good to drink too.

don't know how long you can actually just do juices for - i mean i know he says like 14 days - but how long can you actually stick it?

Willl let you know.

so now i am in a decluttered room, waiting for a call from the garage and i am going to mindmap what i want to achieve for the visit.

grab my timer - and here we go in 15 minute spurts

mg

bathbabe

Hi MG

We can do his plans for about a week tops on the full thing - what works much better for us is to still have porridge for breakfast, juice during the day then have steamed or roasted veggies for tea. The day 3 headache is worth watching out for - it will go, and you'll feel fabulous in the days afterwards. I think I lost about 10lbs over the 7 days of pure juicing - and last week I lost 5lbs just following the juicing during the day for 3 days. I find personally it's a good way of breaking bad (snacking) habits and motivating me for a good kick start.

Hope it works for you!

psychopathbabble

Hi guys,

MG I received the book today... thank you so much! Very glad the car/money situation was helped by the Universe!

I haven’t just gate-crashed, demanded a book and left you, I’ve been trying to read the thread from the beginning but you all talk so much I’ve had to start reading the thread from both ends...... I will look at the blog when I’ve finished the thread.

Clairewop what about putting a fanpage thing on facebook and asking all your friends to ‘like’ it, link it to your website but also put lots of your photos on there and prices. A few people I know have done that now with their new businesses.....not sure how well it works but it’s another way of getting your name out there. Sorry if it’s already suggested.... I’ll have a look at your website in a sec as I need to think about Christmas presents.


MG when you start making your way down south on your tour, I might be able to help with cheap flights... if you ever want me to have a look for you just pm me. Also if you send me a sales pitch for your books plus a way to contact you, I can put it on my ou course pages and maybe some of the other students would buy them (especially when i tell them it’s thanks to you and your book i passed my exam!).

I was part of the mikes mob thing you suggested and it was an amazing outcome for everyone. I hope I can help all of you in some small way... once I’ve caught up!


Hi Mike! Don’t know who asked you but very well done to them! (edit: i think i know who)

Oh and a silly question.... when you write down your wish and put it in an envelope for the universe to take care of... where do you put it?!

Psycho x

lucielle

Gosh that is sooooo exciting.
L

ClootiesMum

Mr Big - OMG :j:j

If there's anything I can do to help you prepare for the Royal Visit, just shout....

CM